Shortly after a chaotic end to the India A vs Sri Lanka A contest, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi met Sri Lanka's first ODI captain, Anura Tennekoon. The 15-year-old had been at the centre of a major controversy after he was embroiled in a war of words with a Sri Lankan bowler.
Emotions ran high, and tempers flared in Dambulla as India A were beaten by Sri Lanka A in a Super Over.
Vishen Halambage of Sri Lanka allegedly told Vaibhav, "Match over…now you go home," according to Cricbuzz. This drew a few words from Vaibhav as he charged towards the Lankan bowler before the other players jumped in between to separate the two players. India A captain Tilak Varma was also seen arguing with the umpire, even though he is usually known for his calm demeanour.
Sooryavanshi greets Anura Tennekoon
Sri Lanka's first ODI captain Anura Tennekoon made the long journey from Colombo to Dambulla to meet the 15-year-old boss baby. He waited outside the India A dressing room for an hour, according to Sportstar, before greeting Tilak.
When Vaibhav came out of the dressing room, he touched the feet of the veteran cricketer, who hugged the generational talent.
What did Anura Tennekoon tell Vaibhav Sooryavanshi?
It was a brief conversation between Sri Lanka's first ODI captain and Vaibhav. The legendary cricketer told the prodigy to focus on his game only and to 'cut out the outside noise'.
For the unversed, Sooryavanshi has scored 12, 44 and 21 in the last three India A games, but Tennekoon had the best advice one could ask for. He said, "Today, unfortunately, you couldn’t get going. But that’s part of the game, you can’t get going every day."
Virat Kohli told the same thing to Sooryavanshi a few days ago, in a viral video shared by RCB. The legendary cricketer met Vaibhav and said that he must keep himself focused on his cricket.
After scoring more than 700 runs in the IPL 2026 season, Vaibhav seems to have gained a few fans in Sri Lanka too.
"I was really impressed by his batting in the IPL. And hitting those sixes and fours the way he does is something unbelievable. I hope he continues in this way," Tennekoon said.
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